


Character Analysis: Thoughts On & Identifying With Nepeta

by therealalex12



Series: Homestuck Character Analysises [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Character Analysis, Multi, headcanon heavy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-23
Updated: 2017-05-23
Packaged: 2018-11-04 02:23:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10981383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/therealalex12/pseuds/therealalex12
Summary: A brief essay I wrote the night before finals since I couldn't sleep about Nepeta and my connections to her.





	Character Analysis: Thoughts On & Identifying With Nepeta

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this the night before finals and was very sleep deprived, so excuse any mistakes I make. I hope you enjoy it either way!

I very much identify with Nepeta.  Not to the point of kin  (or at least to what I understand what kin is), but I identify with her a lot.  Her personality, her likes, her quadrants (to a degree), and even my headcanons on her, much of her I find in myself.

Let’s start off with one of the main connections: her disability.  Many characters in homestuck have a disability (Tavros’ paraplegism, Terezi’s blindness, Sollux’s bipolar disorder, the list goes on), but Nepeta’s stands out to me, in that IN CANON, it’s very much implied that she has autism.  Yes, [Karkat does use it as a slur and insult to her](http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mspaintadventures.com%2F%3Fs%3D6%26p%3D004061&t=ZGI4YzIzZTIwNGU2ODMxOGNmZjFiZDM1MTBhNWQyOGZkNDVlNzFiNCxrRjJseXl6bg%3D%3D&b=t%3AESH7v9lL4-YLw8q0AnSKvA&p=https%3A%2F%2Ftherealalex12.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F160989707451%2Fcharacter-analysis-thoughts-on-identifying-with&m=1) (a bit more on him later), but many symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (further referred to as ASD) show up in her personality.  Her likes for shipping and roleplaying can be seen as types of special interests, and her living in a cave can be seen as seclusion and introvertedness, though she’s upbeat and perky around the ones she loves (especially Karkat and Equius), which is a trait that I share with her.  She also is shown [chewing on her hat](http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mspaintadventures.com%2F%3Fs%3D6%26p%3D004063&t=YzVjMTQxODAzMjBkMDJhZWE4ZmFjNmMyNjM0ZmEwYzIxZDA3YjZhYSxrRjJseXl6bg%3D%3D&b=t%3AESH7v9lL4-YLw8q0AnSKvA&p=https%3A%2F%2Ftherealalex12.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F160989707451%2Fcharacter-analysis-thoughts-on-identifying-with&m=1), which can be seen as a way of stimming.  This has moved onto a personal headcanon of mine and many others if it’s not yet set in stone in canon.  I was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome (now lumped in with regular ASD in the DSM-5) at age 9, which isn’t too far off from Nepeta’s 13 years/6 sweeps.  This is the first thing that connects me to her, as not many people with ASD are portrayed in a more relatable way in media, and especially fandom, so seeing someone with the same diagnosis as me can be very inspiring.

Time for her personality.  First of all, her cat motif.  I’m very much a cat person, so when I saw her design and read her [introduction](http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mspaintadventures.com%2F%3Fs%3D6%26p%3D004056&t=OTE2ZTJhNTcyMTcxMmJiZGZjMzA0OGM3MzJmY2NjZTA0ZDY1ZWM5NyxrRjJseXl6bg%3D%3D&b=t%3AESH7v9lL4-YLw8q0AnSKvA&p=https%3A%2F%2Ftherealalex12.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F160989707451%2Fcharacter-analysis-thoughts-on-identifying-with&m=1), I was immediately infatuated with her.  She also gave me that stereotypical weaboo “KAWAII XD” feel, which brought back memories of my early days in anime fandoms.  Her love for shipping and rping also brought me back, and connected to my likes of today.  Overall, she’s adorable (the coat is too big for her, that’s so cute!), but she’s still badass.  She can easily scratch you to death with her claws and willingly went to whoop Gamzee’s ass when he killed Equius, but sadly Hussie’s hand was not in her favor (and I’m still bitter as fuck about it).  I love strong female characters, and though I no longer identify as one, it still gives me someone to look up to and aspire to be.

Now, onto her quadrants.  This is a bit more difficult to relate to.  I currently have a moirail, but it’s not exactly like Nepeta and Equius’ moirallegiance.  We both rely on each other for help (mostly with our depression), while Nepeta is the one who keeps Equius under control, and Equius is more of a caretaker for Nepeta.  However, Meowrails, the common name for Nepeta<>Equis and what I like to call them, is one of the more (if not only) stable and healthy moirallegiances in canon, and the way it’s going for me, it seems like it’s going to stay that way.  [Meowrails is also said to be a universal constant, which means if there’s a Nepeta and an Equius, they WILL be moirails](http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fsoundcloud.com%2Ftheotpodcast%2Fthe-furthest-ring-homestuck-fandom&t=ZjM3N2ZkN2ViN2Y0Yzg0MjM1ZDFmNTNmYzk2MGNmNmNkMDNkZmUxOCxrRjJseXl6bg%3D%3D&b=t%3AESH7v9lL4-YLw8q0AnSKvA&p=https%3A%2F%2Ftherealalex12.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F160989707451%2Fcharacter-analysis-thoughts-on-identifying-with&m=1)* .  I don’t know much about alternate universes, but I have a gut feeling that it’d be the same way for me and my moirail since we have a deep connection.   I don’t have an unrequited love like Nepeta’s for Karkat though.  I do have a crush, though it wouldn’t work since she lives halfway across the world and she doesn’t know me very well.

Finally, we reach headcanons.  Of course, most of these are personal headcanons, so a lot of stuff was inspired by myself.  I already mentioned the autism before, so I won’t go into it again, but I will go into gender and sexuality headcanons.  I know it can be tricky, placing Earth societal norms onto aliens, but it’s been done before, so I can do it too.  I’ve made [a post about my LGBT headcanons for the kids and beta trolls](https://therealalex12.tumblr.com/post/158740202361/homestuck-lgbt-headcanons-kids-beta-trolls#notes), and I listed Nepeta as a pansexual demigirl.  Since then, my opinions have changed, and I now consider her agender instead of a demigirl (I use she/her to refer to in-canon scenarios, they/them outside of canon).  If you haven’t seen my bio, I identify as a bisexual agender person, but I’ve been recently questioning if I’m pan, but that’s besides the point.  Most people have gone with what’s essentially canon with all trolls being bisexual or pansexual, with a [few exceptions like Kanaya, who’s a canonically lesbian](http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fmspaintadventures.wikia.com%2Fwiki%2FKanaya_Maryam%23cite_note-0&t=YTIyZDkwNzFlMzQyNDM2NzcxZjc3MjAwMmRiN2JlZWRlZjIxOTJkOCxrRjJseXl6bg%3D%3D&b=t%3AESH7v9lL4-YLw8q0AnSKvA&p=https%3A%2F%2Ftherealalex12.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F160989707451%2Fcharacter-analysis-thoughts-on-identifying-with&m=1)**.  I thought Nepeta being pansexual would fit her very well, and it went with the established somewhat-canon.  For identifying as agender, this was mainly based off of my own identity, but her style choices do give off a more androgynous feel in my opinion.  If you have a different headcanon than me, that’s fine, whatever floats your boat.

This pretty much wraps up my character analysis on Nepeta and how I connect to her.  I plan on making more of these in the future, so give me a follow if you haven’t already to know when they’re posted!

*:The quote starts at 41:12

**: Under “Personality And Traits”


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